The Right Mail Helps Local Firms Compete for Sales

Direct mail is a great way for local businesses to draw traffic and compete for sales--if it is crafted to win attention. A recent Target Marketing magazine piece by Paul Bobnak, director of Who's Mailing What!, offers real-life examples of seven basic direct mail tactics that work to woo local customers. 1) Start by selling the benefits rather than the features of a product or service, and put a personal face to the company with names and photos while you're at it. 2) If you are a competitive local service (plumbing, painting or HVAC, for example), make sure you show the range of tasks you can do to set your business apart from other service professionals. 3) Deliver essential information to alert custumers to their potential need, such as the water heater sticker with emergency shutdown instructions and troubleshooting checklist sent by a plumbing contractor. 4) Generate trust and show expertise by educating consumers, like the eight-page, soft-sell brochure on replacing a heater or air conditioner from a home services provider, which leveraged credibility to then promote the company. 5) Make smart use of the calendar to tie into holidays and seasons, such as Mother's Day retail specials or Halloween "scary furnace" checkups. 6) Make it easy to order and then retain contact info, such as a pizzaria's mailed menu sized to post on a refigerator door. 7) Create innovative and personalized call-to-action devices. Going beyond coupons, a local nursery mailed a personalized gift card that snapped out of a postcard, for example. To see real mailing examples: http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/post/7-direct-mail-ideas-drive-local/

When Mail Budgets Hold Steady, Innovators Spur Ahead

In a marketing landscape of digital growth, direct mail spending is holding its own, with 69% of marketers planning to increase or hold steady 2016 direct mail budgets, according to Target Marketing magazine's annual "Media Usage Survey." But direct mail success isn't guaranteed by simply staying the course, and marketers who want to break away from the pack can look for inspiration from a recent post by Tech.Co, a media company and events organization for startups, entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts, which suggests five innovative ways to use direct mail in 2016, including some real-life examples. Tech.Co's five areas for mail innovation: 1) use Augmented Reality (AR) apps to give 3D reality to products via videos and demos (or consider other mobile-enabled options like QR codes and Near Field Communication); 2) leverage free incentives and sampling opportunities, with eye-catching examples from the www.cloribus.com archives; 3) wow with great copy, as showcased by the D&AD agency's decade of award-winning examples; 4) grab mailbox attention with innovative design, going beyond No. 10 envelopes and postcards to oversized, dimensional or interactive mailers, as illustrated by a recent World Water Day piece only readable when wet; 5) finally, and most important in a digital-dominated marketing world, integrate direct mail into multichannel campaigns, avoiding the tendency to silo by channel. For the post and its examples, go to http://tech.co/innovative-ways-use-direct-mail-marketing-2016-01